Pakistan attacks raise fresh fears

Pakistan attacks raise fresh fears
By Farhan Bokhari in Islamabad
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
Published: April 5 2009 11:07 | Last updated: April 5 2009 11:07
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1bcfdccc-21c9-11de-8380-00144feabdc0.html


A suicide bomber blew himself up in a religious centre for minority Shia Muslims in central Pakistan on Sunday, killing 20 people just one day after an attack in the capital Islamabad killed eight paramilitary soldiers, officials said.

The suicide attack occurred outside a mosque in Chakwal – two hours’ drive from Islamabad – where about 2,000 Shia Muslims were attending a prayer gathering. The incident immediately provoked concerns over a fresh campaign against Shias by hardline Sunni Muslims, including many associated with groups linked to the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

Sunni hardliners have carried out scores of attacks on Shias and Shia community groups over the past 30 years in a bid to destabilise the community which looks increasingly to predominantly Shia Iran for moral and spiritual support.

The attack followed a suicide bomb attack in Islamabad on Saturday, in which at least eight paramilitary soldiers deployed in an upscale neighbourhood were killed. The attack on Saturday raised fresh fears over the safety of the country’s relatively well protected elite.

Also on Saturday, a US pilot-free drone carried out a missile strike on a region along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, killing at least 13 people, according to senior government officials.

The attack in Islamabad appeared to be in retaliation for the drone attack. Taliban militants recently threatened retaliation if the drone attacks did not stop. It was not immediately clear if those killed in the drone attack included any prominent militants.

In the past, Pakistani officials have protested against such attacks on the ground that the victims have usually included innocent women and children caught in the fire.

The attack on the paramilitary troops took place after a lone suicide bomber walked up to their post and blew himself up. Eyewitnesses said that, shortly after the attack, gunmen wearing civilian clothes fired at the paramilitary troops before retreating to a nearby forest.

The attack came less than a week after an attack by militants on a police training school in Lahore, capital of the populous Punjab province, in which at least 12 police cadets were killed.

Analysts warned that such incidents, which are increasing in frequency, highlight mounting concerns over the breakdown of Pakistan’s internal security apparatus.

“The writ of the state has weakened as security conditions aggravate day by day,” said Hasan Askari Rizvi, a respected commentator. “Ways have to be found very quickly to halt this trend”.